My Love/Hate Relationship With Blippi.

Feb21

Now, let me first off start this by saying I do not hate Blippi or anything that he does to promote education and inspiring curiosity in our small ones…. But that being said:

The songs he makes up and sings with Nicky Notes are on constant replay in my household,and the car, and anywhere my son chooses to grab my phone… And because of that, this mama is about to lose what little of her sanity is left….

Now let’s start this off with how Blippi came to be in our house…. My son has learning delays due to his prematurity and its harder for him to catch on using conventional methods of learning. He didn’t start speaking select words till just over two, didn’t start fully communicating using sentences until August of 2017, and I feel that is part in parcel to Blippi and how he does things. Spud would always watch random videos on our phones we put on for him while out and needed him to be quiet, like specialist appointment, my doctors appointments, and things along those lines. So at one point my husband decided, after his phone went for a fly across the room, that we were going to get him his own little tablet. So we found a cheap android tablet on Amazon, got a case for it and locked up everything we could, downloaded games and Kids YouTube apps. He loved it, now we didn’t let him play alone, and it wasn’t used all day every day. It was just another toy there that he could use from time to time. So one day Spud is sitting on my lap, I am 8.5 months pregnant with his sister at the time, trying to semi relax as everything hurt, and then I remember hearing this for the first time “So much to learn about, it’ll make you wanna shout BLIPPI!” and then he starts in about monster trucks, and my son was glued! He normally clicks away after a while but there was something there that he just found so hypnotizing.

A few days later we are at a Preemie follow up clinic and they are explaining what they feel he is delayed in and what programs we can get him in to and what we can do at home, the paperwork and pan-flits and that kind of thing. Well when we get home we have to book an appointment with our family Doctor so I can put my 3 year old in a specialty early education pre school to help him work on all his delays and get him caught up.

Side note:

This program is amazing and has done wonders!

He was signed up by the end of May and due to Start in September, and he was still speaking very little at this point, key words and that was about it, no matter how much we tried to teach and push the subject, more and more he wanted that tablet and to watch Blippi over and over and over again, I started looking in to all his social medias and followed him, sharing small clips and pictures of my son. From May to August, my son was singing songs, trying to say more words, asking questions and using his manners! I wish I could say it was from out persistence, but I think and feel in my heart that he is doing something on this channel that is speaking to my son on a whole new level that he was understanding and trying to use what he was seeing and learning from these videos. It was just amazing and I am ever so thankful for this, he has no idea how much it has eased my mind.

My son went from barely communicating to naming all the major parts of an excavator, and all the tools and parts of a fire truck. My sons school went on a mini field trip to the local Fire Station, and while we were there, my son shocked a few of the fire Fighters. When they were asking kids if they knew what certain tools were , or what certain switches did my son would yell it out and was right or really close 80% of the time. He had a great time and didn’t want to come home….. That was until he realized we lived half a block away from the fire hall, then he was so happy, and he waves “Hi” and “Bye” every time we drive by it.

Now we are getting to the ‘hate’ part, but that is such a strong word, its a dislike for how catchy and how easily his songs get ingrained in your head…. So I was goofing about on Spotify and wondered if there were any Blippi songs on there, that we could listen to from time to time in the car should we be on a longer car trip… Well there were 2 Albums on there, and I am sure we are responsible for about 100,000 plays on each song…. We did a family vacation to Drumheller and the whole way down (three and half hours) and the whole way back (four hours…. More pit stops for our 1 year old) we Listened to only one album “Blippi Tunes Vol. 2 Machines” and OH MY GOD….. I am sure anyone who has done long car trips with toddlers, you do anything that will keep the calm in such a small confined space, and for us it was this, any time we attempted to change the music there was a full blown grand mall melt down…

He now has sucked his one and half year old sister into the Blippi vortex of learning, and my husband got sick of them fighting over the one tablet and figured out how to stream everything over the TV, so now all I hear is “Blippi Big TV Mommy? Please? Pretty pretty please? *inset cute head tilt leaning against you, Puss in boots eyes, and a pouty lip looking up up at you*…..

Now I know this title is misleading, because really I have so much to be thankful for in the Blippi channel, it opened a door in my sons mind that just allowed him to want to learn and explore things, he is always asking what things are, and what other things do, he knows different kids of trucks and construction equipment. He knows his colours and how to spell now! He tries to read, he is not even 4 years old yet and he is reading words, and spelling the ones he doesn’t know and trying them. This is a kid that at just under 3 years old was told he had moderate to sever speech, cognitive, developmental, fine motor and gross motor delays! This was a kid who I was told in September of 2017 I was told he was going to most likely need an aide when he starts kindergarten and his first 3 years of ‘big kid’ school. Now he is reading, spelling, singing songs, dancing, trying to teach his little sister things he has learned at school and on Blippi. He has made all these leaps and bounds all because of Blippi, he unlocked a door, and created a curious little learner that makes me smile in wonderment and awe at how far he has come in less than a year, and how much he is still trying to learn.

Please, check him out, who knows he may be just the right thing your child needs as well.

-Ashton <3

Toilet Talk

Feb3

Toilet Talks, Notes, Tips and Tricks from an Occupational Therapist in a toilet training seminar. I hope that you find help in all of this, I took the seminar because I have been struggling to toilet train my almost 4 year old for closing in on 2 years, and my daughter is starting to approach the age to attempt to toilet train, so when the opportunity came up to attend this I jumped at it, and this is a combination of their notes, my notes and fun graphics that took me forever to make…. So please enjoy.

The Goals for the seminar were simple, to learn about readiness and pre-toileting skills, establishing a toileting routine, learning how to use visuals to assist with toileting, how to look at reward versus punishments, and how to deal with accidents and other issues. It is important that you start toilet training when you AND the child are ready. If started too early, toilet training can become a power struggle, and that power struggle will effect just how long the toilet training will take and how successful you will be in the long run. Some kids might be under

reactive to being wet or dirty while others may be over reactive to those same stimulus.

There are Four main stages of Toilet Learning, there is stage one, Toilet Play. This step can include pretending to use the toilet on their potty, mostly with their clothes on, they become very curious as to what others are doing in the bathroom and they show more interest in the toilet itself, maybe not for using but wanting to learn how that it works. Stage two is Toilet Practice, and this step shows the child wanting to practice certain skills that are needed in wanting to use the toilet. Like practicing flushing the toilet, pulling their pants up and down, getting on and off their potty or the big toilet, squatting down then standing back up again, practicing hand washing and asks for your to check if their diaper is wet or dry, or clean or dirty as they are becoming more aware of what is going on. Stage Three they are showing more interest in wearing “real” underwear and feels the need to urinate by showing gestures (also known as the peepee dance), is verbal and uses facial expressions. They are beginning to hold urine in longer, like when they are playing and really dont want to stop to go pee or feel wet while playing, as they also start to feel the need to be clean more than sitting in their mess longer than necessary. They now have words for using the toilet and tells you when they have to go. They can pull their pants up and down a little more freely, and stand and sits on the toilet or their potty with little to no help. They are also showing signs of pushing and concentrating when they are ready to poop, they are also letting you know more and more when they have ‘accidents’ or need their pull up changed. Stage Four is the final stage, as they are now doing independent toileting.

There are a few tips and tricks out there for Potty Training, many are ones that your parents used on you and your siblings, then there are the ones your grandparents tell you about, you also can look online for many more, these ones are from the occupational therapist as well as a few from the other moms that attended the seminar with me that have older children that they were able to toilet train with no help as they didn’t have the same delays or different issues that our children have now.

So the first thing you can do is establish a toilet language with your child, you can use the actual terms like Urine or Bowel movement or the old stand by peepee and poopoo. Then there also the terms that you want to use for their parts, we are still working on stage one in our house for toilet training so when I am changing my son he is in charge of wiping his ‘macker’ and that is what he calls his penis, and that works for us as well as he calls his bottom his “smelly butt”…. Let’s not start that story. You can also model the stages of going to the bathroom for your child, “Oh I feel like I need to pee, lets got the potty.” They can follow you into the bathroom and you can narrate the steps you are taking. “I am pulling down my pants and big kid underwear. Now I am sitting on the potty, and going pee.” Things along those lines, you can also have a steps on a “Rip Chart” or a check mark sheet your child can check off as you complete the steps now and later when they are completing the steps.

Rip Chart, each tab is Velcro and can be ripped off as each step is completed

Another step you can try is changing their soiled pull ups in the bathroom so they can start to associate the bathroom with getting clean, you can even start putting the poop from the diaper in the toilet and have them flush it down. Also, dress your child in easy to manage clothing so that they can start practicing pulling their pants up and down. My son when he is in his sweats will do it while he watching TV, not even really for the need to go to that bathroom, just because he wants to, his sister who is only 1 and half is already trying to mimic him, he has cognitive delays while my daughter is right on par with her age, so I will be potty training them at the same time.

Check off each step as they are done.

Establishing some sort of toileting routine will also help you in the long run, you can have your child sit on the toilet or their potty at regular intervals for 1 to 3 minutes, like every 30 minutes or 60 minutes regularly or 20 to 30 minutes after eating and drinking. Also have your child participate in as many tasks as possible when they are in the bathroom, you can also use a tracking system to determine if your child is already on a routine. If your child has a fairly regular schedule, be consistent in taking them to the bathroom during the times that your child is mostly likely to go. Place your child on the toilet or potty approximately 5 to 10 minutes before their predicted time to go. Try and schedule toilet trails less than 90 minutes apart, timers may assist with keeping everyone on track. A wind up egg timer that you can show your child how to set may help them feel like they are in control of this whole situation.

If your child does not have a regular schedule, your child’s potty habits may be linked to eating, sleeping or physical activity, determine the amount of time between these activities and elimination, you might notice a pattern, also you might want to increase the amount of liquid intake 10 to 20 minutes before a trial to increase success.

Praise your child for appropriate toileting

to help motivate your child, praise EVERY step that they do successfully, regardless of how much assistance you provided. Verbal praise should be used whether or not you use a tangible reward, like small preferred food or sticker. Accidents happen, keep calm, avoid getting upset when an accident happens, but help your child clean up. Avoid punishing your child for accidents, accidents can help your child learn what it feels like to be wet and how their body works. Issues that arise, child is afraid of the toilet, your child seems to feel unstable on the toilet, your child wont sit still long enough to go and your child responds poorly to wearing underwear.

Diapers vs. Pull-Ups vs. Big Kid Underwear

-Diapers make potty training less messy, but they dont allow your child to get that necessary feeling of being wet or dirty.

-Pull-Ups also pull away moisture fairly quickly as well

-Underwear provides your child with feeling of wetness which is necessary for learning how to stay dry.

-Let your child pick out ‘real’ underwear. They may have a favorite character like Barbie, Dora, Spider-man, or anything along those lines.

Here are the top ten do’s and dont’s for potty and toilet training. I also have a few other little tips that were shared at the seminar:

Try and put the big kid underwear under a pull up, that way they can get some of the sensation of being wet and dirty while you have less of a mess to clean up.
Teach girls to wipe from front to back, because we know that the bacteria transferred from back to front can cause infections and problems in the long run.
Hand washing should always be included at the end of every child’s bathroom routine
When accidents occurs, never leave a child in wet or dirty clothing change the child’s clothing as quickly as possible, and have your child assist you where appropriate.

Here are a few lists of books for parents and children that you can also check out:

I hope this was informative and helped you figure out how you can and will start Toilet Training your little one. Leave me a comment if you have any other tips and trick that you used that were helpful that I didn’t include, or please let me know if you have used some of the ones I did include and they did work for you.

Thanks for Reading

-Ashton <3

Mommy Attempts Pinterest Hair Hack

Apr15

I am going to put this out there, that these pictures I am about to post are not my best and will most likely leave you with nightmares. You are forewarned!!

ONWARD READER!!

I saw something on Pinterest the other day and decided to give it a try. I am going to attempt to curl my hair with just tin foil and a flat iron! (Also heat protectant spray, I am not that crazy!)

These are the main tools you will need! You may also want one of these….

A Spud who wanted to watch his YouTube Videos in the bathtub while I attempted to curl my hair.

OK, Step number One:

Section off your hair, I have personally very fine hair so I only needed to section off the crown and the rest of the hair was left down.

Step Number Two:

Take a small section of hair, not to much because you are going to have to work magic in a second.

Step Number Three:

Wrap that section around your fingers. One Finger is a tight pin curl, and as you add more fingers the looser the curl will be. I opted for 2 fingers this time around, although it wasn’t pretty lol.

Step Number Four:

Wrap each “curl” in tinfoil. The best way I found was place the foil under the “curl” in the middle, as close as you can get it, fold each side over each other and the fold up the bottom. You can tighten up the top part so the hair doesn’t fall out. Then when you have done your whole head, you too can pull off this sexy look!

Step Number Five:

Place the flat iron on the tinfoil and hold it over the curl for 15 to 30 seconds, You may have to do it 2 to 3 times in different spots on the foil, depending on how big you made the pocket, I had to do it twice in two spots per foil. *****WARNING***** The foil Pockets get HOT, and you will burn yourself at least once, if not 4 times like I did.

Step Number Six:

Once the foils are cool, which can take one minute to 8 eight minutes, depends on how hot you have your flat iron, pull the down or unfold them and this is what you get…. Sexy right??

Step Number Seven:

Run your fingers, comb, or brush through the curls part it how you want it and style it, I had a bit too much protectant spray in my hair so it went flat up top and I used a brush instead of my fingers, so it poofed out at the bottom… But you know what? It worked! Its been 2 days and I still have a curl, its pulled back in a pony tail right now.

So my final thoughts It works, and your spouse and children will mock you for having that much foil in your hair, and the curse words that will fly EVERY time you burn your neck or face.

Thank You for reading, please Like, Comment, and follow me on social media.

Love, Hearts, and Pretty Things

Ashton <3

Welcome

Mar12

Welcome To Our Preemie Family 2.0!

Here we are, starting over Fresh, what a vast place of possibility!

The grownups have left me unattended with a computer, internet access and a blog! Mwahaha! I cannot wait to see what trouble I can cause here.

Well, we all know, well if you followed my last blog, I am far to lazy and busy to cause to much trouble, but the kids on the other hand, you will be here in the front seat watching what goes on in the troubled and turbulent life of my kids, and how life is unfair because mommy’s favorite word is NO!

I will have a few posts up very soon, some new and some from my old blog that I would like to move over!

Thank you for reading, Please follow me on any and all Social Media I have!

Love, Happiness and Other Pretty Things

Ashton <3

Found My Perfect Planner

Jan20

I am the fussiest person when it comes to day planners. It takes me months to sift through them and decide what ones I like, I have even tried making my own, but hate how they look… I have bought the build your own and never used half the stuff I put in it, I even tried the mommy specific ones that have spots for each family members activity that day. Nothing worked for me, on any level, until I found this one….

The Happy Planner at Michaels!

*Heavenly Choirs Sing*

It has a monthly view that takes up 2 full pages, lots of space to write everything, so you can see your month at a glance and how busy you will be. As you can see my 2 year old has some fun things planned and more to come as the year goes on.

The weekly view is just as big, the only thing I don’t care for is its Monday to Sunday, not Sunday to Saturday. The way each day is lined up you can use it as morning, afternoon and evening planning, or Husband, yourself and kids plans that day. I am using it as my daily to do list, activities for family and/or Kids, and Financial things that are required that day, as well as tracking how much we spent that day and where. (Trust me, that will come in later on in the year.)

Between the months there are quotes on the divider as well as a few note pages at the end of each month for whatever you feel you need. I, personally, will be using them as a spot to write down all the positive things that happened that past month. The whole planner I picked is colorful, and fun, I have also seen this trick a few times with other blogger and I have fun colored fine tipped marker and color code certain things, and I have an erasable pen for planning in things to see where they fit in during that week. I also have colored highlighters for the same purpose.

There is a plastic pouch in the back but I have to many pens for that to work with us.

I picked the bright and happy cover, with positive sayings, just so my husband didn’t walk away with it to use it for work, plus its really cheerful.

The downside to planners are, you, mommy, know exactly what is going on when, where and for how long… That is why I have this!!!!

On my fridge, I take my planner and fill in everything the first of every month so my hubby, when he is home, knows exactly what needs to be done and when. This is for everyone, my 2 year old now likes to help and have his own planner, which is a flimsy composition book he gets to “write” and color in when mommy is working on her planner, calendar and the magical kids white board!

This is posted just outside my son’s room, soon my daughter will move in there with him. The calendar part is just for their activities and lets them know when daddy comes home from working far away and when, sadly, he needs to go back to working far away. Every morning I give my son his special marker and he gets to draw an X through the day before, then I have our routine listed underneath for my husband when he is home, because he is unbelievably awesome and lets mama catch up on some sleep when he is home, as well for any baby sitters who come to watch the kids, or our parents who watch the kids. I have texted pictures of this to each grandparent more than once when they go for sleep overs.

This is my planning method, yes its a bit much, but it works, we are all in the know at all times. I am in charge of finances, but this way Hubby knows where the money goes and when at the same time.

I am hoping to have a fuller breakdown of how I use everything and how it helps in the long run near the end of the year and what I will take with me next year and what I will change.

Thank you for reading, Please Like, Comment, and follow me on Social Media.

Love, Hearts, and Pretty Things

Ashton <3

Ashton Taylor – Our Preemie Family

Wife And Mother Of Two Terrible Toddlers, This Is Our Life

Archives